Glass-melting means.



W. W. W. KEYES.

GLASS MELTING MEANS.

APPLIGATIOH HLED MAE. 19, 1910,

mfg Patented Aug. 15,1911

4 SHEETS-SEEN 1.

INVENTR 1MM/AM w w. ffm/ES.

IW. W. W. KEYES.

GLASS MEETING MEANS. y APPLIOATION HLBD 111111.19, 1910.

fw., @0.92111 Patented Aug.' 15., 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

W1 TNESSES: iN VEN TUR MLA/AM ww KEYES,

A TTRNEY W. W. W. KEYES.

GLASS Mamme. MEANf.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 19, 1910. I

atented Aug. l5, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

:'NVEN TCR A r'foRNE'v W. W. W. KEYES. GLASS MELTING MEANS. APPLICATION ILED MAR. 19, 1910. Patented Aug. 15, 191?.

4 SHEETS-SHEET fi.

A HORA/5V CTS rinirnn mi engen nieren.l

WILLIAM W. W. KEYES, OF ALEXANDRIA, INDIANA, SSIGNOR OF (Jl\lEl-I]Ilk1'.rl?v TC CHARLES DOR/N, OF ARNOLD, .EENNSYLVANLL GLASS-MELTING MEANS.

Specification of Letters 'atent.y Patented Aug', l5, figli.,

pplcation le March 19, 1910.l Serial No. 550,439.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that' I, the undersigned, Tillmann lll. lll. KEYES, a citizen of the TUnited States, residing at Alexandria, in the county of lll-.ldison and State ot' lndiana. have invented certain new and useful linprovements in Glass-Melting Means, oi" which the following is a-speciiication. s

This invention relates to improvementsg in means for melting glass.

lt is well known 'that in the working of glass, the consistency of same in its extent from the melting end of the tank to'the other end is sutliciently variable that in the gathering out for the purposes of; drawing same intov forni for ultimately making sheet glass, it is necessary that the quota of glass so gathered shall be re-heated and brought up to the proper condition for drawinof. Various means have'been employed for this purpose, including pots carried in kilns that are moved up to a mouth in the melting tank; the pot after having received the gather being then moved to a distant staA tion where, after being re-heated, the draw is"acconiplished. ln this and other methods" with which l am familiar the `lsuccessiol handling of the gather involves the exercisel et great skill, and inoreoverthere is always a considerable portion of the glass so gathered that is left after each gather and which has to be either thrown away or worked over. ln the practice of this departxnent of glass making for production oi" the heavier sheet glass it is not infrequently thc case that from ,a gather ot' say. four hundred pounds of glass, only about one fourth of saine would be utilized in the draw.

lt is to render possible the handling of glass in such improved manner that the drawing or" same may be accomplished economicfftlly and reliably and with the eXercise of the minimum amount of labor and skill, that I have developed the present invention.

The Ipreferred form combination and arrangement of parts tor carrying my invention into effect are shown inthe accornpai'iying drawings, wherein corresponding part-s throughout the several views are indicatedl by simila11 characters of referenc Figure l, is a side view of iny improved melting-pleads. Fig; 2, is a sectional plan view taken on the line 2"?. in Fig'. 1.

Fig. 3, is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 in Fig 2. Fig. l is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken on the line 1 -4i in Fig. 2. Fig. l5, is a vertical transverse sectional. view taken on the line 5-5 in Fig. 2.

At a location adjacent to the melting tank l is a kiln 2 built up from the floor or base 3 which has a level the saine as that of the floor of the tank. From one side of the pot 4 which is located centrally in this kiln extends la tunnel 5, the roof 6 thereof rising to such height and joining the wall of the tank in such a manner that the under side of the root' will be at a suitable height above thel level of the molten glass which will flow from the tank through the opening 7 and into the tunnel 5 and pot 4. Through a slot 6a a damper door 7JL may be operated by raising or lowering of saine by suitable means (not shown). By this means the amount ot heat passing through the opening 7 may be regulated. The pot Il has its top portion of fla-red forni, the ilarcd edges ,being ailected by the heat con,- tained in the kiln, as will be present-ly reerred to. The preferable form ot construction of this pot :is that shown in the drawings', 'the flared top portion 4ta being made in the form of a ring capable of beingl set and retained in correct position on thev main port-ion of the pot.

The cover portion 8 of the kiln and which is capable of being raised and lowered, has the central openingia, and when in lowered position the kiln will be closed thereby.

The lid 9 which is capable of being removed from and replaced. in posit-ion over the opening` 8a, by suitable means' (not shown) rests upon the cover portion 8 of the kiln. The openings 10 and 11 from the bottom of the pot and from the kiln are closed by the usual suit-able stopper blocks. i

For the purpose of raising the cover portion 8 l provide .the racks l2 which may move slidingly in the guide blocks 13. The shafts 14 suitably geared together and j ournaled in the boxings disposed.underneath the kiln carry the pinions l5 which move the said racks. These shaftsnoay be operated by a windlass 16.

` 17 is a conduit which conveys the gas lli 'maintained by the heat in the kiln.

4lated and controlled. n this embodiment of my invention wherein I contemplate the use of gas as the fuel for the kiln, the regulation of the low'of the fuel will obtain the desired effect in the kiln. If heatfrom another kind of fuel would be used then the flow of the heat would be controlled by dampers or other suitable means. These kilns are built up in a line or series along and in combination with the Walls of the melting tank l. By reason of the improved results obtained ,in presenting the surface of glass of proper consistency to be drawn, my lnvention renders possible the :much more effective use of drawing machinery. To supplement thedescription hereinafter of how'this is accomplishedI there is shown in Fig. 4 a skeleton view of glass drawing` machinery capable of drawing from the pot the charge of glass and then'the blowing of same into the form of the cylinder that is ultimately to be finished into sheet form.

The cover portion 8 of the kiln will normally occupy the lowered and closed position as shown lin the drawings. The latent heat' of the glass lin the main tank will be held vby the glass that fills the pot; the correct temperature of the glass in the pot being t With. theremoval of the lid 9 the heat is shut off from the kiln. The blow-pipe is lowered into the glass and with the raising of same the drawing and blowing of the glass into the usual cylindrical form is accomplished. After the cylinder has been severed from the supply in the pot, the lid 9 is replaced and the cover portion 8 is raised to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 5, the heat being again supplied to the kiln. a suitablerinterval of time the cover portion 8 is'lowered to within a short distance of the top of the pot, the heat having' been( turned oft' again. Then the lid 9 is removed, and by manual means, the surface of the glass in the pot is ski-mined, the refuse being pushed over the edges of the pot will ,fall to the floorv of the kiln and may be taken away through theopenings 11. The cover portion 8 is then raised to full height, as shown by the said dotted line position, the heat being again turned on and the re-heating or melting back of the glass to condition for drawing, takes place. When this re-heating has progressed a suifici'ent'lengt-h of time, the cover portion 8 isagain lowered and ,the heat shut off, the glass being in condition to be drawn.

In theA practice of my invention there is Vslight; if any variation in temperature of the glass except at its surface so that uniform consistency of the glass will be maintained. It being possible to draw from one Vpot while After the glass in another pot is being re-heatecn';

the necessity of the glass-drawing machinery being rendered temporarily out of use is avoided. All expense of ladling of glass or attendance to removable 'pots or kilns is avoided, and the amount of slag or skim- .I

central opening therein to register with the,

rim edge of the pot and being provided with vertical flange toengage `the outer face of the wall of the kiln, a removable lid for said cover portion.

2. A glass melting apparatus `comprising a tank. a kiln capable of having the hea-t controlled therein independently, .a pot in said kiln and having a passageway leading from the tank, a flared and raised top portion for saidv pot, a cover port-ion to close the space between the rim edge of the pot and the kiln and having a rcentral opening to register with the rim edge of the pot and `being provided with a vertical fiange to engage, the outer face of the riinof the kiln, means to raise and lower the cover-portion and to sustain it at different. raised and lowered positions, a. removable lid to cover th opening in said cover portion.l

3. A glass .melting apparatus, comprising atank, a kiln capable of having therheat controlled therein independently, a pot in said kilnfand having a passageway leading from the tank, a flared top portion-forsaid pot, a cover portion to close the space between the rim edge of the ot and the rim edge ofthe kiln and having' acentral open ing to register with the rim edge of the pot and being provided with a vertically d1slposed flange to engage the face ofthe wall of the said kiln, means' to' raise and lower the cover portion and to sustain it at diifer` ent raised and lowered-positions lin eludino` racks arranged vertically of the kiln anc having their upper Iends to engage the cover portion, gearing to raise and lower said racksand to sustain same at varied heights.

'In testimony whereof I hereunto/aiiix'my 'signature'in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM -W. VJ. KEYES.

Witnesses:

' IDEEY R. JONES, BENJ. FISHER. 

